Virtual Reality Sex

Yes, you’ve read correctly. An entire industry is looking forward to the future of virtual reality. The adult entertainment industry. Even though you may have to call up other media on this topic in the future, I will try to explain the appeal of Virtual Reality Sex to you.

When a new technology sees the light of day, be it something small like a computer chip or something big like the Internet, its spread almost always follows in the same way. First, since a new technology brings a strategic advantage (and is often very expensive), the military tries to do it. Later on, the so-called early adopters and enthusiasts will get to the newborn technology and hypen it as the next big thing. Next, mostly at the same time, there are two other areas that regularly appreciate these new technologies before the average consumer even has a clue what it’s all about: games and, well, sex.

We’ve been able to experience this sequence over and over again over the past 100 years. The Internet was created by DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, a US military agency), but it was the hackers, gamers and porn seekers who first discovered it for themselves long before Mom and Dad started emailing each other and checking their account balances online.

Likewise, the first computer (Minuteman ICBM guidance computer), which was smaller than a room, was designed and built for the military.

This trend can still be seen today when new “computing power”, whether through faster chips, larger memories or faster network connections, can be realized by the military adopting these technologies first. This is followed by hackers, copyright pirates (just think of the masses of pirated DVD porn) and gamers. Only years later does the masses begin to get used to the unusual technology.

Now, after this introduction, let’s turn our attention to the next exciting technology: Virtual Reality. You surely know that Virtual Reality (VR) has been around for quite some time. What some may not know, however, is that VR has already been used extensively and successfully in military flight and combat simulations. And that for at least two decades. With decreasing costs for the individual components and thanks to the appearance of high-end devices like the Oculus Rift Headset, the imagination of technology enthusiasts all over the world was awakened. We are now in that window of time where VR is making the leap from military use to gaming and sex.

Virtual Reality Sex

On the internet, especially on Twitter (we love every new follower) I’ve been following the unstoppable increase of sex simulator reports for quite some time now. Not because I am sex-obsessed, but because I am interested in the newest VR technology. Frankly, I’m a little shocked to see how advanced some of these virtual reality sex setups are, especially in conjunction with “sexy” robot peripherals. Let’s start with something harmless, which actually only has a lot of fantasy to do with virtual reality sex and dedicate ourselves later to the future of sex.

This is Hashilus horse riding simulator on which the inventor of the Oculus Rift VR glasses Palmer Luckey has his fun.

Right, this is a completely harmless horse riding simulator, but I think everyone can see the parallels between riding a horse and, well, riding something else. But further in the text.

Teledildonics. Yes, this is a real term that was coined in the 70s. I do not know its German translation (Teledildos?), but I am sure that everyone can understand what is meant. In short, teledildonics are remote-controlled electronic sex toys that are controlled by a computer or a human being to give the human user an orgasm. So let’s come to the wonderful device from the Japanese company Tenga (known for sex toys like the Tenga Flip Hole), which combines an erotic computer game with a Fleshlight-like device and the Oculus Rift glasses to – well, I’m not trying to describe it at all – see the Virtual Reality Sex Demo for yourself.

Since I am apparently not able to put “slippery” videos into words, I simply describe the philosophy of the company Frixion, which also seems to have shifted the Teledildonics. Frixion is a startup that has made it its business to create a kind of social network in which users can get physically closer to each other. For example, it should be possible to have virtual sex with one’s partner in a long-distance relationship. “Touch and be touched” is one of the slogans of the company and here is another video I am not able to describe.

Besides these two advanced application examples of the Oculus Rift Headset, there are a lot of other sex games that work with the Rift, but I don’t want to link them. They are all too easy to find with a quick search on the internet. I just want to point out that there are a lot of software and hardware developers who are very excited about the sexy applications for the Oculus Rift HMD and are already working on the apps for Virtual Reality Sex.

The future of sex

So the big question is, where does it all go? Are these Oculus Rift “driven” sex simulators just fun, or are we looking into the true future of sex? You can be divided about realistic robot prostitutes and sexbots. Diseases, abuse, forced prostitution, human trafficking are issues that could fill pages in this context. With Virtual Reality Sex this is similar, as the basis of this technology evolves and is supplemented with the help of various robot mounts, one will be able to live out any kind of fantasy. Whether you want to have fun with a blue-skinned creature from Avatar or another person (maybe a celebrity), Virtual Reality will make it possible sooner or later.

Which doesn’t mean people will. For every person who likes the idea of putting on a VR headset and diving into erotic worlds with such a device, there will be a lot of others who prefer real sex.

Generally speaking, sex does a good job of counteracting new trends and technologies that push us away from “classic” human-to-human interaction. Apart from the many technical advances over the last millennia, sex hasn’t changed much. Virtual reality sex will probably become more important as we mature than, say, have the Fleshlight, but I don’t think we have to fear a dystopian future in which humanity spends its entire existence connected to a device that is connected to the Internet, while this very apartment makes all physical enjoyment possible through various instruments. At least not yet.

Only when we understand how to interact directly with the brain – when we understand how to address the exact neural synapses in order to pretend to someone he or she feels real human touches and emotions – then this dystopian future could very well become reality.